Butterfly Wings
by corrodedstar
Summary: Yullen one-shot. Kanda has always seen the way Allen acts around Lenalee. It frustrates him, but if that's what makes Allen happy, if the one who Allen really belongs with is her, then... But maybe Kanda's not as good at reading people as he thought.


**Summary:** Kanda has always seen the way Allen acts around Lenalee. It frustrates him to no end, but if that's the only thing he can do to make Allen happy, if the one who Allen really belongs with is her...

Yullen one-shot. With an extra side of fluff.

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**Butterfly Wings**

...

_Butterflies are the symbol of happiness. Light and airy with beautiful colors, they fly free in the wind, always slightly out of grasp._

He would never admit it, but he was always watching. It wasn't as if he did it on purpose, but whenever that stupid bean sprout came into the same room, it was if an electric pulse had run through the air. He could _feel_ it – in his supercharged nerves, in the thudding of his heartbeat, in the heat that rose to his face.

He saw the way the bean sprout was watching, too. Not him, but Lenalee. Whenever Kanda walked in on the two of them talking, Allen would glance up with a surprised look and turn away quickly, a faint flush on his face. Kanda had spend enough time with the stupid rabbit to figure out the signs. And there were other things, too—the way he always acted protective of Lenalee, the way he cheered up just by being around her. The way she treated him as well: the way she always tried to be strong around him, the way she always tried to comfort him.

And yet, he couldn't hate Lenalee. She was a precious person to all of the Exorcists, both a gentle and soothing presence and a pillar of support. She was a person that made you feel needed when you comforted her, wanted when she comforted you. Fragile yet strong, like a butterfly. That was Lenalee. And that was why, no matter how restless he felt when he saw Lenalee with the bean sprout, he never once rejected Lenalee's pleas for help.

As much as he hated to admit it, Lenalee was better for the bean sprout. Kanda? He could only upset Allen whenever they saw each other. He couldn't say soothing words or give warm hugs. He couldn't even protect Allen in battle properly. It wasn't just that he didn't like protecting others, he didn't even know how. He had only ever tried to take care of himself before, after all.

All of that, that was why Kanda had never tried to reach out. And never would.

That was all he could do.

...

"I told you, the Akuma went _that_ way! Stupid Kanda!" Allen yelled, frustrated.

"Shut up, bean sprout. You have no sense of direction anyways. I mean, you even ended up in front of my room by accident once." He scoffed, giving the younger boy a withering look.

"That wasn't because I got _lost_, stupid Kanda," Allen told him with a glare. "It was because Lenalee said—" He stopped. Kanda found himself wondering for a split second what Lenalee had said that was so important before he remembered that he didn't care. "Whatever. You just don't want to admit that you're wrong."

Okay, it was true. Kanda knew that the Akuma was in the opposite direction. He had figured that if he subtly went in a circle, Allen wouldn't notice, since the stupid bean sprout had no sense of direction anyways. Today _would_ be the one day that he decided to suddenly get one, wouldn't it? He was about to relent when a loud explosion interrupted him.

_Crash._ A large piece of wall was blown apart just barely twenty feet away from them as a small group of grotesque, bomb-like Akuma with disfigured clown faces emerged and leered at them. Behind him, Allen winced. Something about the souls or whatever.

"See, bean sprout?" He muttered before drawing Mugen and running his finger along its blade in a single, swift motion.

"You did _not_ know that those were there," Allen seethed, activating his own Innocence. "We were chasing a Level 2, _bakanda_."

"If it can die, you cut it," Kanda told him with a smirk before slicing at the Akuma briskly, not a movement wasted. It didn't take more than a few seconds before the rest were gone, too.

"Maybe we should get back to our _actual_ mission now, _bakanda_. We need to find that damn Level 2. It—"

Allen cut himself off as he quickly jumped away, more out of instinct than awareness, as several long spikes shot out at him. He inhaled sharply. Speak of the devil.

"There's your precious Level 2, bean sprout," Kanda said as he narrowed his eyes, gripping his sword tightly in preparation for a swing. "It looks a lot like you, doesn't it?" He dodged a shot aimed at him before he dashed forward to slash at the Akuma, but it was just a fake body – the tenth one so far. Beside him, Allen had the same luck as he deflated another decoy. It was lucky that the Level 2 didn't have much offensive ability, or they'd be covered in wounds.

Kanda cursed. If it weren't for that damned cloning ability, the fight would have been over long ago. In the time they had been searching for the stupid Akuma, it had been busy, and they faced more than twenty clones at the moment. He gritted his teeth and slashed as fast as he could, hoping that one of them would be the real one.

After a good half hour, once again, a pile of dead Akuma-skins lay on the ground. And once again, the real one was nowhere to be found. Kanda scowled and sheathed his sword. This was already dragging on for too long. "We'll have to keep looking," he muttered as he lifted his foot to take a step forward unsuspectingly.

And the rest happened before he had a chance to think.

He dimly remembered his instincts screaming at him a split second before he noticed a white flash in the corner of his eye. He remembered Allen's eyes widening as he quickly turned in response to something behind him. And he also remembered his own body moving reflexively to put itself in between the bean sprout and whatever it was that had just arrived.

And then, a panicked cry of _"Kanda!"_ in his ears.

…

"What…?" He opened his eyes groggily, his ears still ringing. But wherever he was, it was silent and calm. Slowly, he sat up. He was lying in a soft futon in a dark room. It was night, and the sky outside was pitch-black but for the stars that dotted it. A shuffle from the corner told him that the stupid bean sprout was here, too.

"Kanda, you're awake?" Allen walked over quickly. "You were injured pretty badly. The Akuma had some sort of poison on its claws. Even with your healing rate, it'll take at least two days, I think. Although, compared to last time, I guess it's not too bad."

"What happened to the Akuma?" Kanda demanded, his head still spinning.

"Dead. Thanks to you taking the hit, I had enough time to get it before it cloned." Allen's voice became guarded. "That was pretty smart of you to distract it. Although I wouldn't have expected you to be so self-sacrificing."

"Whatever."

"It was rather uncharacteristic of you."

"Tch."

"Did you really think of that in just that split second?"

Kanda scowled. "You're being rather persistent. Maybe I can just think on the spot better than you, bean sprout."

"It's Allen," he shot back instinctively. "And anyways, was that _really_ it?"

"Yes, that was really it!" Kanda hissed, irritated, more at himself than at the bean sprout. And his head hurt. He could barely think with his muddled brain.

"Fine. Touchy, aren't we." Allen said with a frown, then paused. "Lenalee says that you should value yourself more."

Great. Just great, Kanda thought with a grimace. Lenalee and self-important preaching in the same breath. He could have sworn that the damn bean sprout was _trying_ to tick him off.

"Like I give a damn about what Lenalee says."

"Do you not like Lenalee?"

"No!" He snapped, then groaned, regretting his vehemence. "That's not it, okay?"

Allen gave him an odd look. "Lenalee also says that you get irritated when people you like are mentioned."

What the hell was he trying to say now?

"You've known each other for a long time, right?"

"What?" He couldn't follow the damned bean sprout's train of thought anymore.

"You and Lenalee."

"_Hah?_ What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Well," he persisted, "she seems to find your presence comforting. And it's not like you kick her out when she goes to find you."

Was he getting jealous over Lenalee or something? Pathetic, Kanda thought with irritation.

"So, to you, Lenalee—"

"Will you just _shut up_ about Lenalee already? Is that all that can fit in that tiny brain of yours?" Kanda hissed, throwing the blanket – the only possible weapon at hand, as unsatisfying as it was – at Allen's head. He dodged. Damn bean sprout.

"Fine." Allen fell silent. Then, almost resignedly or something, he said, "You should probably get some rest." For some reason, he didn't make any move to leave, but that was fine. As long as he would shut up. Especially about Lenalee. Before he knew it, Kanda had fallen asleep already.

"It's frustrating," Allen murmured to himself when he was sure that Kanda wasn't listening anymore. "It's like... she's the only one you care about."

…

It was still nighttime when Kanda opened his eyes briefly, only half-awake. He was dimly aware of a warm presence beside him – Allen, he realized. The stupid bean sprout still hadn't left. He was asleep, though, and he hadn't bothered to find a blanket before curling up on the floor. Stupid bean sprout.

With a sigh, Kanda threw his own blanket over the sleeping boy. It wasn't as if they _had_ to share, but he was tired and he didn't want to get up. That was it. Without thinking, he reached to stroke Allen's unnaturally soft, snowy hair lightly. It wasn't really Kanda's fault – it was the bean sprout's fault for falling asleep next to him. Right.

_I'll give you back to Lenalee in the morning_, he thought wearily.

"Yeah, that's right, isn't it?" He said to himself under his breath. _Such a short amount of time. It should be fine. He would return Allen..._ "back to Lenalee… in the morning..." The murmur that he unconsciously voiced aloud was barely louder than a thought, but it was fine; it wasn't as if the bean sprout could hear him, he thought as he drifted back to sleep.

Allen, who had been awakened by Kanda's movements, winced. Nonetheless, he didn't stir even as a chill went down his back at the nearly inaudible words. "Back to Lenalee… is that it?" He mumbled. "So that's what you were thinking, Kanda..." Not that it was all that unexpected, he admitted to himself wearily.

After all, who _didn't_ like Lenalee?

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"A magical disappearing town in France?" Kanda raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Allen said defensively. "That's what the reports say."

"Well, good for you. Now you can spend all the time you want with Lenalee, huh?"

"Yeah, that's right. Just the two of us. Alone. In France. _C'est l'amour_ and all that."

"Don't get too excited and forget to do your job, bean sprout."

"I won't. I'll do it properly. With Lenalee."

"Right, so shut up and go away already."

"What, jealous?"

"Why would I be?" Kanda snapped.

"Well, I'll be _alone_ with _Lenalee_ for who-knows-how-long."

"That's _great_. Now shut up and go away already."

"You said that twice. You are bothered, aren't you? Even the great, almighty, piece-of-shit, self-absorbed chunk of ice that is Kanda Yuu is bothered."

"_Will you just shut the fuck up already?_"

"So you really do like her?"

"I—what?" He stared.

"There's no use pretending. You really do like Lenalee, don't you?" Maybe it was just Kanda's imagination, but it almost sounded like there was just a tinge of bitterness in Allen's voice.

"What are you…" There were so many things wrong with that statement that he didn't even know where to start.

"Well, don't worry too much," Allen told him with mock cheer. "It's fine, it's not like I like her that way or anything. I just wanted to mess with your head. After all, it's not every day that you get to see _the_ Kanda Yuu with that kind of face. Have you seen your face like that, by the way? It's priceless." He edged backwards towards the door as he spoke, reaching behind him without looking to turn the knob and slipping through the tiny crack. Kanda just stood there, dumbfounded, as the sound of footsteps faded.

"…the hell…?"

"Woooow…" He whirled around as he heard a snicker behind him. Lavi was also staring at the door, his chin resting in his hands as he leaned against a chair. "That's some misunderstanding you've managed, Yuu."

"Wha—Just get out of here, stupid rabbit." He didn't even bother to draw his sword.

"_You_ get out of here. Don't just stand there—go!" Lavi shoved him towards the door with a wide grin on his face. "Unless you want him to leave for some cracked-up town in France still thinking that you have a thing for Lenalee?"

"No…" Damn, the rabbit actually had a point, Kanda thought with a grimace. He ran.

He made it just in time – Allen had already put on his uniform and was preparing to leave. Somehow, the bean sprout's movements lacked their usual energy, and he hadn't even bothered to slap on his usual polite smile.

"Wait!" Kanda grabbed his arm, pulling him away. He ignored the stunned look on Allen's face and his own red face and messy clothes. He probably looked absolutely stupid. But that was fine.

"What is it?" Allen asked as Kanda struggled to catch his breath. Damn, that had been a lot of running.

"It's … not … that I…" He gasped.

"What?"

"It's not Lenalee that I like!" He snapped as he finally managed to breath properly again.

"Really?" Allen had the most stupid look on his face, Kanda thought.

"Obviously!"

"Oh. Okay." He still looked like his brain had broken down. After a long pause, though, the wires seemed to reconnect. "What? Then who?"

Nope, still stupid. He would have to spell it out for him then, he thought, leaning in towards the younger boy's ear. "I am jealous," he muttered brusquely as he slipped a small pouch into Allen's hands before pushing him towards the exit hastily.

"What…?" Allen stared dumbly, his hands still tightly cupped around the small, smooth pouch. There was something hard inside. A lot of somethings.

"Allen, if you don't hurry up, we'll be late," Lenalee called. He snapped out of his daze and quickly hurried over obligingly.

"Sorry," he said, flashing a quick smile at her, his thoughts still spinning.

"What did Kanda want to say?" Lenalee asked, tilting her head at his flustered expression.

"Nothing much," he mumbled. "He just wanted to give me something." What was it that he had received, anyways? Overwhelmed by curiosity, his heart pounding slightly, he untied the strings of the pouch and slipped the contents into the hands. His eyes widened.

"His bracelet?" Lenalee asked, equally surprised. "Why would he give you that? It's important to him, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Allen stared as well. _I am jealous_, Kanda had said... Slowly, Allen curled his fingers over the smooth beads. They were warm and slightly heavy, hard and plain without any bright colors. Each small, round bead was connected firmly to all the others. Solid and real.

Important to him, he thought, a smile growing on his face.

_I don't need any butterflies. This is my happiness._

...

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Whee. The fluffayness, does it burn? xD I'm sorry if it does. o.o I can't seem to write anything that doesn't smell of cheese. Well, I hope you liked it anyways. xD

By the way, to those who care, I am writing my series (Dissonant Tune) properly, I promise. With amazing efficiency (for me), I might add. xD

If you're wondering why Kanda gives him the bracelet in particular, idk. There's no symbolic reasoning behind my choice of the bracelet over, say, a button from his uniform (lol, shoujo high school romances anyone?) or something. It's just that it's important to Kanda (maybe?) and it's something that he carries with him all the time. That's it.

Yup. And that's all I can think of. Hope you liked, and please review! And thanks for reading! xD


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